RALEIGH — February 23, 1996 - 5:47 p.m. EST

Nationwide, the unscrupulous have found pet theft to be an easy way to make quick money. The Triangle, according to police, is no exception.

The money is made when pets are sold to unsuspecting new owners or to research facilities.

Wake County Sheriff's Deputy, Linda Buck says it's not hard to do.

Listen toaufile.

"What people are doing is taking dogs and saying it's a stray dog, they don't know where it came from, or something like that, and then they take it to the research lab."

Most labs won't touch animals with tattoos or with micro-chip identification under the skin. Owners can also padlock dog pens or post no-trespassing signs, police say.

Investigators aren't sure just how widespread the problem of pet theft is because people often don't report such crimes to police, and because police list the crime as theft of personal property, which makes it hard to track.

However, enough incidents are reported locally to make it a viabl